Dark and Darker Barbarian Build and Class Guide (2024)

Barbarians are known for their excessive rage, hardy nature, and ability to endure immense pain. Their anger and reckless abandon make them deadly and unpredictable adversaries. Dark and Darker’s Barbarian class is very reminiscent of the classic D&D archetype while giving you several different ways to customize your rage-fueled Berserker.

Our Barbarian build focuses on being a two-handed berserker who smashes through anything in their path and charges headlong into battle. The Barbarian class is very versatile and allows for a very aggressive or brawler gameplay style. Our build will focus on using two-handed weapons and boosting our defenses.

Barbarian Pros

One of the hardest-hitting classes in the game.
Great for solo and groups.
Can smash chests and doors.
Has more HP than other classes.
Can one-shot lightly armored classes in Dark and Darker, including Rogue and Wizard builds.

Barbarian Cons

Extremely low movement speed and attack speed.
Can be outrun by faster classes, making it difficult to catch up to fleeing players.
It starts out with a low amount of gear, thus requiring more to get going.
Can heavily rely on buffs from a Cleric or Wizard.

All Barbarian Perks

Axe Specialization	Adds +10 damage to axe attacks.
Carnage	Strength increases by +10 for 4 seconds after killing a target.
Iron Will	Increases magic resistance by 100
Savage	Not wearing chest armor results in a 10% damage bonus.
Berserker	The less HP you have the more damage you do. Each 10% HP loss grants 2% additional attack power, up to a max of 18% physical power.
Morale Boost	Recover 10% HP after killing a player
Roughness	Additional 10% HP
Two Handed Weapon Expert	Two handed weapons deal 5% additional damage.
Smash	Can destroy normal doors and sturdy containers. Increases impact power of attacks by +1 to better defeat blocks/parries.

All Abilities You Can Use in Your Dark and Darker Barbarian Build

Reckless Attack	Cooldown: 24 seconds	Next hit ignores 75% enemy defense. Self -55 armor rating.
Rage	Cooldown: 28 seconds	Strength great increased and movement speed increased by 15%. Defense reduced by 20% for short duration.
War Cry	Cooldown: 24 seconds	Increase Max HP of yourself and your party by 25% for 7 seconds.
Savage Roar	Cooldown: 28 seconds.	Frightens NPCs within a 7.5m range for 6 seconds. Reduces their damage bonuses by -25%.

The Best Barbarian Build Perks and Abilities

For our berserker build, we take the following Perks & Abilities:

Reckless Attack
Rage or Savage Roar
Axe Specialization or Two-Handed Weapon Expert
Iron Will
Berserker
Smash or Toughness

At the time of writing this, our best Dark and Darker Barbarian build is a tanky two-handed berserker build. For this build, we take Reckless Attack, which makes your next hit Ignore 75% of the enemy’s defense, but lowers your armor rating during this buff. This is what makes Barbarians hit like a truck, giving them the power to one-shot lightly armored classes.

Next, we take Rage or Savage Roar. Rage drastically spikes your rage and gives you a decent movement speed buff but lowers your defenses for a short duration. Alternatively, if you want to have a more PvE focus, take Savage Roar for making enemy monsters easier to kill.

For Perks, we take Axe Specialization or Two-Handed Weapon Expert, in case you aren’t using an axe. Then we take Iron Will for the increased magic resistance, and then Berserker, which gives us additional attack power based on how low our health is. Lastly, we take Smash for chasing down players who flee past from use by closing doors or take Toughness for additional health.

Alternatively, Carnage is also a great option, but it’s hard to make use of its buff in a tiny window unless you are dual-wielding. Also, Savage is outstanding, but having no chest armor, plus using skills that have trade-offs that result in lowering your defenses, is extremely risky, especially for new players, so we only recommend Savage once you have more Barbarian experience.

What Armor/ Weapons to Use for Dark and Darker Barbarian Builds

Barbarians can equip the following armor and weapons:

Northern Full Tunics
Heavy Leather armor
Battle Axe
Double Axe
Felling Axe
War Maul
Zweihander
Hatchet + Horseman’s Axe

In regards to armor, Barbarians don’t have access to the heavy plate armor that Cleric and Fighter builds do, but they do have options for heavy leather or padded armor, which is stronger than Rouge or Ranger leather. Alternatively, Barbarians have two options: equipping lots of armor or ignoring chest armor for the Savage perk.

For newer players, we recommend bulking up since almost all Barbarian skills will reduce your defenses or make you easier to kill; plus, they don’t have a lot of movement speed. These downsides can be negated if you have a Cleric or other teammates to assist you, but this is a high-risk-high-reward class.

Ultimately you should pick whatever gives you the best stats. Still, we prefer having more armor to offset the downsides of using your abilities, but build your Barbarian as tanky or as reckless as you want.

The Best Barbarian Weapons For Your Build and When to Use Each

When it comes to weapons, things get a little more complicated. Here are the best weapons for Barbarians:

1. Felling Axe

The Felling Axe is what all Barbarians start their journey with. This weapon has great damage and amazing overhead swings with a decent range. It’s one of the fastest-swinging two-handed weapons but still relatively slow.

2. Double Axe

The Double Axe is one of the heaviest two-handed weapons a Barbarian can use, and it’s exclusive to their class. The Double Axe is incredibly slow but offers excellent damage and a huge hitbox to compensate. One Reckless Attack with a Double Axe will put any Dark and Darker class near death.

However, the Double Axe is incredibly slow to swing and slows you down more than any other weapon, so swing and position carefully.

3. Zweihander

The Zweihander is a unique, powerful, yet troublesome weapon to use in Dark and Darker. This massive two-handed sword has a long range and an enormous hitbox with broad cleaving attacks.

Yet, its biggest strength is its greatest downfall. Since the Zeweihander mainly uses wide slashing attacks, fighting with this weapon in small rooms is extremely difficult because your blade will constantly crash with the wall before hitting your opponent.

4. Hatchet + Horseman’s Axe

Alternatively, if you dislike using two-handed weapons, and want more attack speed, use a Hatchet and Horseman’s Axe. This weapon pair is exceptionally deadly and would be better suited for a more reckless build, but we wanted to mention these weapons onour list for their power, despite not working with our recommended build.

Barbarian’s Best Stats in Dark and Darker

Every class in Dark and Darker prefers specific additional stats found on weapons and gear. These random enchantments make some items worthless or highly sought after by certaingroups.

Here are the Barbarian’s best stats:

All Attributes: Increases all stats of your character.
True Damage: Damage that bypasses all armor and physical damage reductions.
Agility: Increases Base Move Speed, Action/Attack Speed, and Equip/Interaction Speed.
Physical Power: Increases your damage with physical weapons
Max Health: Increases your character’s maximum health.
Strength: Increases base health and physical damage bonus.
Weapon damage: Increases weapon damage.

These are the best stats for Barbarians, and specific items with any of the aforementioned enhancements will sell a lot on the market. It’s your decision if you wish to keep any well-statedgear for yourself or sell it on the market, but these are the stats Barbarians will be looking for.

Dark and Darker Barbarian Tips

Ultimately all classes in Dark and Darker will take time to understand their strengths and weaknesses. Here are some tips to help you avoid some early game mistakes that can save a fewof your runs.

Aim for the head and avoid Shields: Headshots will always do the most damage, regardless if you’re using an axe or magic. This also pairs with monsters and players who use shields. Shields will block your attacks unless you adjust yourself to strike wherever their shield doesn’t cover. For skeletons, you can wait for them to swing, then counterattack.
For players, you can predict what direction your attacks will come from when your crosshair changes. If they are guarding their head, use your attack angle to maneuver around their shield.
Holstering your weapon: Barbarians are one of the slowest classes in Dark and Darker, and it gets worse depending on how much armor and weapons you are carrying. One of the primary ways you can somewhat negate this downside is by holstering your weapon. Putting your weapon on your back will allow you to move faster and keep pace with other teams when you don’t have a Wizard using the Haste spell on you.
Use your abilities cautiously: Most of your abilities and a few passives make you easier to kill in exchange for dealing lots of damage. Some downsides are temporary, like Reckless Attack, but Rage lowers your defenses for the entire duration of the buff, so be careful when powering up.
Communicate: If you are playing in groups and have a Cleric or Wizard giving you lots of supportive buffs, it’s okay to play defensively to prevent faster classes from slipping into your backline. Barbarians are slow but devastating powerhouses, so communicate when to play defensively and when to rush.

Wrapping Up Our Dark and Darker Barbarian Build and Class Guide

That’s our Barbarian Build and Guide for Dark and Darker. The Barbarian is one of our favorite Dark and Darker classes, which embodies the power of putting all your stats into offense. Stay on the move, strike hard, and drink lots of blue and red potions.

If you enjoyed our look into Dark and Darker and want to learn more about the game, check out our guide on how to get better at Dark and Darker for more helpful survival tips, or check out our Cleric and Wizard build guides to see what you are up against.

For now, Good Hunting!